Huskies Rebound with 67-60 win at LSSU

• Box Score

SAULT STE. MARIE, - Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's basketball team closed the week and a three game road trip with a 67-60 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Lake Superior State on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies used an 18-8 third quarter to grab the lead and hang on for the win.

"It was a great game and I thought we played well especially in the third quarter," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kim Cameron said. "I'm proud of our intensity today on the court and our effort to pull out the win on the road in a tough place to play against a Lake Superior State team that has been playing well. I thought Lindsay [Winter] had another great game today and was solid for us all week. We needed someone to step and she has done that for us. It's not just her points, but also her rebounding and effort on the defensive end of the floor. Overall, I thought we played a good game and moved the ball well on offense. Our defense made some big plays and created some points off turnovers enabling us to get the win."

Lake Superior State (4-19, 2-14 GLIAC) got the upper hand early when Mackenzie Edwards connected on back to back triples to make it an 8-3 score with 7:47 remaining in the first quarter. Trailing 10-6 with 7:07 on the clock, Michigan Tech (15-6, 11-5 GLIAC) reeled off an 8-0 run to go up 14-10. Redshirt junior Brenna Heise kicked off the run with a 17-foot jumper followed by consecutive layups from senior Morgan Anderson. Sophomore Isabella O'Brien then dropped in a layup with 2:53 left in the first period.

Unfortunately, the Lakers would post a string of seven straight points culminating on a Tamara Novic layup with 40 second left in the first quarter. Redshirt freshman Abbie Botz took some of the momentum back for the Huskies when she connected on a jumper for the final bucket of the first period, leaving the score at 17-16 in favor of the Lakers through 10 minutes of play.

The two teams traded baskets for the majority of the second quarter, with the exception of a pair of two possession leads by LSSU. The Lakers went on top by four at 25-21 after a conventional three-point play from Novic. The Huskies momentarily grabbed the lead again at 26-25 with 4:36 to play until the break on a trey by junior Lindsay Winter only to see the Lakers go up by five at 32-27 with 2:10 on the clock. However, Tech would close the second quarter strong and tie the game at 32-32 at the intermission. Winter connected on another three-point field goal and sophomore Elizabeth Kelliher dropped in a layup with under 10 seconds left on the clock.

Just past the midway point of the third quarter, Tech owned a 43-40 edge after exchanging buckets with the Lakers through the first five minutes. The Huskies then swung momentum in their favor by engineering a 9-0 run that covered the final minutes of the third quarter and into the start of the fourth. Winter began the run with a three-point basket and Anderson floated in a jump shot followed by two free throws with six seconds to go in the third, giving the Huskies a 50-40 cushion to work with. Heise started the fourth quarter with a jumper to close out the 9-0 run.

The Huskies would never relinquish the advantage from that point forward, but they had to withstand a late charge by LSSU. Kelliher bumped the Tech lead to 57-44 with 7:05 to play in the fourth before the Lakers trimmed the lead all the way down to five points at 59-54 on a Novic layup with just over three minutes to go. Heise and Kelliher stepped up to deliver back to back field goals and keep LSSU at bay. The Lakers pulled to within five again at 65-60 on a Rachel Novotny jumper, but redshirt junior Kelli Guy iced the contest away with two free throws at the charity stripe in the final 10 seconds.

Winter powered the Huskies with a season high 20 points by firing in 7 of 12 shots from the field, including five from behind the three-point line. She also grabbed six rebounds and played 36 of the 40 minutes in Saturday's win. Kelliher followed with 14 points, Heise contributed 13 points and Anderson posted 11 points to go along with a team best seven rebounds and seven assists. Guy wrapped up the contest with four points and five assists.

The Huskies made 26 of 59 total shots from the field (44.1%), they were 6 of 15 from three-point land (40.0%), and 9 of 14 at the free throw stripe (64.3%). Rebounds were even at 30 apiece, but the Huskies forced 14 LSSU turnovers that led to 16 Tech points.

Edwards had a game high 26 points to pace the Lakers on Saturday afternoon. Novotny and Meissner each delivered 10 points with Lexie Khon adding three points and a team high six rebounds. LSSU connected on 24 of 57 attempts from the field (51.1%), were 5 of 11 from three-point range (45.5%), and 7 of 8 at the free throw line (87.5%).

The Huskies will return home on Thursday night to face Wayne State followed by a battle in the SDC Wood Gym Saturday against Saginaw Valley State. Thursday's tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and Saturday's game time is slated for Noon.